This invention relates to apparatus and methods for performing surgery and in particular to an apparatus and method for performing microscopic surgery.
In many types of surgery, such as neurosurgery, it is necessary for the surgeons to view the area upon which they are operating by means of a microscope. This is necessitated by the small size of the physiological elements upon which the doctors are performing surgery. In the past, such types of operations have been conducted with the aid of placing a microscope over the area upon which surgery is performed with the doctor viewing that area through the microscope. Such a method of performing surgery is quite cumbersome as the bulk and placement of the microscope does not allow free movement of the hands of the surgeons.